Russia seen as London 2012 favorites

Team Russia is going to win the most medals at London 2012 Olympics, leaving the US and China behind, a projection released by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) suggests.

The forecast is based on the results of world championships, world cups and other major international events of 2010. The AOC analysts believe that Russians will win 97 medals in the British capital, with Americans taking 94 and China 93.Hosts Britain are predicted to be fourth, with 48 medals, followed by Germany (47), France (45) and Team Japan (43).While the authors of the projection, Australia, see themselves in eighths position, with 42 medals, they still hope for a Top Five finish. Only the quantity, not the quality of the medals, is mentioned in the forecast.   Russia bagged 42 medals at the previous Summer Games in Beijing, showing a third result of the Olympics. Hosts China won the most golds at the Games, but the US led the medals count with 110 overall medals, in comparison with 100 from the home team.